Market Reseacrh, help!

[pcbres16]

Alright, so I am looking to conduct market research for an iPhone app that I have in mind. I have some ideas as to where I am going to do this research that is in my target market group. My problem is this, how do I conduct market research without out letting out too much of my idea so that someone can come right along and steal it out from under me.

I was thinking of using surveymonkey.com as part of my research method to get some stats. Should I be very vague about what it is I am looking to develop, like only give out just enough info to give people the general idea of what I want to build?

Basically I need some guidence in how to conduct market research to where it will not give out enough information about what I want to do where someone can take my idea, but provide me with enough feed back so that the research will be effective for me to use.

Thanks for any and all help!

[akula]

My problem is this, how do I conduct market research without out letting out too much of my idea so that someone can come right along and steal it out from under me.

this is an irrational concern which is not grounded in reality
if you can't handle competition, then don't compete
you need to move forward and start surveying prospects
lack of disclosure is gonna do nothing but derail your efforts

[PhillM]

Don't worry about some stealing your idea it may or may not happen. An outsider can copy every little detail of your business and it still won't be "your" business. You, your knowledge and passion will always set you a part no matter what.

When creating the survey questions ask some vague questions and also some questions that are fairly specific to your idea. You don't want to lead the person taking the survey, at the end of it all they should know about the survey is it's about the iPhone. So ask questions about the competitor's apps, how often they use apps, how many apps do they have, how much they spend on apps, ask a question about your idea, ect.